New Delhi, 22 July (H.S.):

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Bansuri Swaraj on Wednesday defended the government’s approach towards the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protest, saying that authorities maintained a sensitive approach throughout the agitation and did not interfere as long as the demonstration remained peaceful.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, Swaraj said attempts were being made to spread confusion and misinformation against the government. She emphasised that the youth of the country are not instruments of disorder but the nation’s builders.

Swaraj said protest organiser Abhijeet Dipke was granted permission by Delhi Police for the demonstration at the airport, following which protesters continued their sit-in at Jantar Mantar for 21 days. She said authorities did not intervene as long as the protest remained peaceful.

She alleged that on July 20, protesters called for a ‘Sansad Chalo’ march and attempted to surround Parliament without official permission. Despite this, Delhi Police exercised restraint and tried to manage the situation, she said, adding that democratic institutions such as Parliament must always be respected.

The BJP MP claimed that the central government had been open to dialogue with protesters from the beginning. She said that when the protesters met Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda, they did not have a written list of their demands. According to her, Nadda asked them to submit their demands in writing, after which it took around two-and-a-half hours to prepare the document.

Swaraj said the government had made it clear during the meeting that it was willing to find a solution through discussions and had appealed to the protesters to end the agitation. She claimed that the protesters had assured that they would call off the movement but later went back on their commitment.

She also accused protesters of making misleading claims during the agitation. Swaraj said several allegations were made that had no connection with reality and rejected claims that a 12-year-old girl was injured during the protest, alleging that such reports were being used to create confusion.

Highlighting the performance of the National Testing Agency (NTA), Swaraj said that in the last three months, the agency had successfully conducted three major national-level examinations — JEE, CUET and NEET. She said claiming that the country’s education system, particularly the examination process, had completely collapsed was “absolutely false and an attempt to spread misinformation.”

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar